Today's installment of "How did I live without..." is all about DVR. I'd always been skeptical of just how much good a DVR is, even after many of my friends picked up their TiVos. But I still just couldn't justify the cost of one - the initial purchase plus the subscription fee was just too much for me, at least in one single bite.
Then I found out last week that Comcast has launched their dual-tuner, HDTV-compatible DVR in my local area. So I got some more info on it, and they were offering it for what I thought was a reasonable price ($9.95/month, when the HDTV tuner alone would have cost $4.95/month). I picked it up on Thursday of last week, and absolutely LOVE it! It's pretty handy to have digital-quality recordings of all my favorite shows.
But I wouldn't recommend it if you don't have an HDTV television - the broadcast quality of the non-digital channels appears significantly worse through this tuner than it did straight from the cable or through the non-HD tuner downstairs. Maybe it's just the 65" TV that's showing off every little flaw, but I've cautioned my friends against it unless they've got an HDTV.
